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“Lance who?” Armstrong accused of lying over role in car crash

Disgraced ex-cyclist faces court on two charges - police say girlfriend initially took blame before admitting he was driving - but denies he was drunk

Lance Armstrong will appear in court on  has been charged with two traffic violations by police in Aspen, Colorado, where he has a home, following an incident in which his girlfriend Anna Hansen reportedly claimed initially that she was at the wheel of their car.

According to the Aspen Daily News, police claim that the disgraced cyclist, banned from sport for life in 2012 and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, hit two parked vehicles while driving his SUV, with allegations that he may also have been drinking.

The newspaper adds that Hansen, who has been in a relationship with Armstrong since 2008, also lied about whether he had been drinking on the evening of 29 December, when the incident took place.

Hansen and Armstrong, who also have a house in Austin, Texas, had been at a party on the night in question, with a local resident filing a police report the following day saying that two vehicles parked outside his home had been damaged, with the driver failing to stop.

The vehicle, traced the same day the report was made and discovered to have damage to the front end, was registered in Armstrong’s name, and that afternoon Hansen met with police detective Rick Magnuson and community safety officer Robert Schafer outside her house.

In a police report, Detective Magnuson wrote: “Hansen told us that she was driving home from an Aspen Art Museum party the previous night. Hansen told me that she drove the GMC home because ‘Lance had a little bit to drink so I was driving. I was not drinking.’”

She claimed that she had lost control of the SUV before colliding with the parked cars and that after stopping around the corner, she returned on foot and told the homeowner what had happened, saying she would foot the bill for any damage.

According to the police report, “Hansen added that she believed that she completed her legal obligation after providing her information to [the homeowner].

“I informed Hansen that she was required to immediately notify the police of an accident and return to or remain at the scene. Hansen told me that she was unaware of this law.”

She was issued with two tickets, one for failure to report an accident, the other for exceeding the safe speed limit, but the detective harboured suspicions about her version of events.

But both tickets were transferred to Armstrong on 12 January after both the homeowner and another witness, an employee of a car valet firm involved in the event, provided different accounts of who was driving.

According to Detective Magnuson’s report, the valet “told me that he recognized Lance Armstrong and Anna Hansen. He told me that he assisted Hansen to the passenger side of the GMC, and Armstrong entered the driver’s side and drove away from the St. Regis.”

That statement was also taken on 29 January, prompting the detective to quiz Hansen again that day, when she insisted that she had been shopping and on returning to the vehicle told her husband to get into the vehicle’s passenger seat.

But the homeowner outside whose house the incident took place said: “A woman, well-dressed, 30ish, blond … came running around the corner in her high heels in 6 inches of packed snow, which was pretty impressive; she ran directly to us and said, ‘We’re so sorry, we came around the corner and slipped on the ice, and we hit your cars.’

“She said, ‘I’m Anna, we’re the Armstrongs, my husband’s Lance [she and Armstrong are not married – Ed], he was just driving too fast around the corner or something’.”

Magnuson interviewed Hansen again at Pitkin County Courthouse on New Year’s Eve, when she is claimed to have said that she had not in fact been driving.

Asked who was, she said: “Lance.”

“Lance who?” responded the detective.

“Armstrong,” she replied.

The officer’s statement continued, “I asked, ‘And Lance was driving the car when it crashed into those two other cars?,’” to which Hansen is alleged to have replied in the affirmative.

The report went on: “I asked Hansen if Armstrong asked her to take the blame for the accident once they got home.

“She replied, ‘No, that was a joint decision, and, um, you know we’ve had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I’ve got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family because I thought, ‘Gosh, Anna Hansen hit some cars, it’s not going to show up in the papers, but Lance Armstrong hit some cars, it’s going to be a national story.’”

But Hansen denied that Armstrong was drunk, with the detective’s report quoting her as saying: “He was not intoxicated, and that was um, you know, I’m sorry I lied to you that morning but I was trying to make [it] sound like, well, I was driving because that was, just, I don’t know … I was just trying to make something up at that time.”

No charges were filed against her for making a false report, with deputy district attorney Andrea Bryan telling the Aspen Daily News: “In circumstances such as this, where the witness was subsequently and nearly immediately cooperative with law enforcement, remorseful, and came forward with the truth, it would be incredibly rare for our office to charge the witness with false reporting.

“The policy of our office is to encourage all witnesses to tell the truth, and if witnesses lived in fear of being prosecuted for coming forward after making a mistake, we would rarely, if ever, get the full truth from our victims or witnesses.”

Armstrong is due in court in connection with the incident on 17 March, and when contacted by the Aspen Daily News his lawyer declined to give a comment and said her client did not wish to speak with the authorities about it.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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44 comments

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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I've just done a quick none scientific survey of the forums comments: They''re all from blokes. As a non trained non practising psycholigist (can't be bothered with spell check one of those Dr.s Which read your mind). You all have wet dreams fantasising you are HIM. Rather than living a life in the body of a dullard.

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Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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Was listening last night to how Armstrong had an IV back at the 1992 Olympics (the audiobook of Juliet Macur's 'Cycle of Lies').....which was a little unorthodox to say the least, and most likely illegal.

The point being is that Liestrong has probably been cheating his whole career. Even his first triathlon coach got busted peddling PEDs to athletes. Liestrong's while career has the air of being a lie. The trick being is that the full truth has still not been revealed.

It is revealing that story about his 'single' mum bringing him up alone is pretty much a lie. The only thing you can hang your hat on is that he had cancer and was cured of it.

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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What's this ameyshakefight anyway? Computers now got parental lock on so can't check the web. Is it for Americans with short dicks after being caught fighting ants?

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Beddy byes too. In your single mans hostel because your wife dumped you for somebody with a life. Oh the freedom of youth

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Hey guys, great discussion taking place in the comments about the new Vulpine women's jacket. Don't get too exited.

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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You're very easily distracted. Listen. Nobody hates Armstrong, well maybe except the second man on the moon. But anyway, nobody hates Armstrong: you want to hate him because it makes you feel better and the media helps you along. Ye who is without sin among you, let him be the first to inject steroids into Armstrong.

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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608 posts = no life? Best I don't comment then eh? The child-lock on the iPad not scan for outbound swear words?

Grow up.

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Plato's back, drop what your doing, words of original coming shortly. 608 posts? GET A LIFE. Know wonder your wife you

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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And his ex wife. Was it a he? No wonder he left her

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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And it's not Chris Hulne, though I grant the resemblance

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Or I'll get my dad onto you

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Now don't be silly and getting people exited

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Kadinkski | 9 years ago
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Mmmmm...merino, sweet, sweet merin oh, oooh!, ohhh!!!!, ooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Mmm...you'll never leave me, will you baby?

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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1983 brown fuji bike. Will be at dunstable downs around 8am on Saturday if any bodies up for a 100km ride, rain or snow

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Yeah I am new to Internet forums; got iPad for 15th birthday. You guys rather than jerking off to photos of blokes in Lycra get out on your bike. Funny, don't seem to see many of you out in the frost and snow when I'm cycling the Chilterns. Why? Still jerking off looking at your merino jumper still in its box?

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zanf replied to Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Okinawa wrote:

Yeah I am new to Internet forums; got iPad for 15th birthday. You guys rather than jerking off to photos of blokes in Lycra get out on your bike. Funny, don't seem to see many of you out in the frost and snow when I'm cycling the Chilterns. Why? Still jerking off looking at your merino jumper still in its box?

You seem to like the image of cyclists on this forum jerking off to stuff seeing as you keep banging on about it.

Are you still going through that weird wet dream phase where you wake up all sweaty, confused and your sheets are wet?

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WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
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Zzzz. I can't get excited about tales of Lance anymore. Maybe it's easier for me as I never bought into him or bought the yellow wrist band either..  37

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andyp | 9 years ago
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...and let's not try to pretend that stealing 10 yards with a throw-in is anything like cheating your way to winning millions, pretending to help people with a charity which you're actually just using as an income and a shield from accusations, and crushing anyone who stands in your way.

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andyp | 9 years ago
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'I think that the last thing in the world that Lance would do is assault someone.'

Wish I still had my videos of the 1996 Tour. He was swinging punches like a good 'un.

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Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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Complete non event. Much like the coverage given to Bono when he supposedly stacked in in Central Park. Yawn.

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Jimbomitch | 9 years ago
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If Lance did assault anyone, he'd say it was his missus that did it !!!!!  13

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don simon fbpe | 9 years ago
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Nicked.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/31125348
BBC seem to have found their cycling section too.  29

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sponican | 9 years ago
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He can't stop competing can he? Does he have to beat Ullrich at EVERYTHING?

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Mombee | 9 years ago
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This is great... Armstrong has been been gradually gearing up the PR machine to presumably make some form of come-back, having apparently turned a new leaf and seen the error of his way... fortunately, it only takes a slight hiccup (?) like this to undo everything that PR has been trying to achieve, and has actually provided good evidence of the person that he really is and put the whole come-back even further back.

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oozaveared replied to Mombee | 9 years ago
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Mombee wrote:

This is great... Armstrong has been been gradually gearing up the PR machine to presumably make some form of come-back, having apparently turned a new leaf and seen the error of his way... fortunately, it only takes a slight hiccup (?) like this to undo everything that PR has been trying to achieve, and has actually provided good evidence of the person that he really is and put the whole come-back even further back.

For all we know this is part of it. There's no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe it will turn out that he is vindicated and the authorities were out to get him.....

Previously.............................

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huntswheelers | 9 years ago
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Once a cheat...... always a cheat... has he got some kind of undiagnosed personality disorder or is he just a blatant liar?

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oozaveared replied to huntswheelers | 9 years ago
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huntswheelers wrote:

Once a cheat...... always a cheat... has he got some kind of undiagnosed personality disorder or is he just a blatant liar?

Elite sport is Darwinian, whether it's body line bowling, blood doping, bowling underarm to stop runs being scored, crashing into a competitors car to make sure they don't finish and collect enough points to win a championship, diving, sledging, taking a throw in 10 yards down field from the place it went off, claiming a throw in when you know it's not yours etc etc.

There is a sporting adage interestingly an American one "if you're not cheating - you're not trying."

We may not like it but a huge proportion of elite athletes are elite athletes because they think like this. Cheating doesn't have to be literally cheating, it's about getting an edge. And cheating itself is a slippery concept, gamesmanship at times treads close to actual cheating.

If you don't think that's right take a look at the ongoing study based around Goldman's Dilemma http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman-Dilemma

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manmachine replied to oozaveared | 9 years ago
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Spot on.
A good book by the late Mark Donahue, called the Unfair Advantage. It's not necessarily cheating...it's searching for the competitive edge.

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Langster | 9 years ago
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Armstrong has done enough damage to the sport, the best thing he could do now for cycling is just shut up and stay out of the public eye.
Every time he is in the media it just prolongs his legacy, to the detriment of the sport. The sooner people forget his name the better.

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pol sifter | 9 years ago
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oh joy, the gift that keeps on giving...

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